Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Attorney General Pam Bondi

A Tallahassee judge has tossed out a lawsuit against Attorney General Pam Bondi that accused her of improperly coercing businesses to donate millions of dollars to unregistered charities. Those donations are part of settlements in consumer protection cases her office pursues under the “Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.” Orlando entrepreneur John D. Smith, who was investigated on a consumer fraud allegation by Bondi’s office, filed suit over the practice. Since she first assumed office in 2011, Bondi’s office settled enforcement actions with 14…

It’s hurricane season. Brace for rip-offs. Following Hurricane Matthew last year, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office drew more than 3,100 complaints of price gouging, resulting in 21 investigations and four lawsuits. As the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season opened Thursday, Bondi referred Floridians to her 2017 Hurricane Preparedness Guide. It’s a primer, containing easy-to-use checklists and definitions of terms — plus warnings against scams of every color. Like tree-removal scams, building repair scams, debris-removal scams, disaster relief scams and water testing…

Florida’s share of a settlement with Johnson & Johnson over adulterated over-the-counter drugs will exceed $1.6 million, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday. Florida was among 43 states that sued the company and its Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. subsidiary, alleging that they misled consumers into believing that they’d manufactured the medications in FDA-compliant facilities. In a consent decree dated Wednesday, J&J agreed to pay $33 million to the states and to improve internal and marketing controls. The company pleaded guilty…

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday announced a new consumer protection program “that will serve the unique needs of our military and veteran communities and directly assist with consumer protection-related issues.” The Military and Veterans Assistance Program (MVAP) is Bondi’s “most recent effort to spread awareness of and stop deceptive business practices affecting military service members, veterans and their families,” according to a press release. “Florida has more than 90,000 active duty and reserve military members and more than 1.5…

George Sheldon, a former Florida official now facing an ethics inquiry as director of Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services, also ran into a spot of trouble at home this week. Property records show Sheldon, secretary of Florida’s Department of Children and Families in 2008-11, claimed a homestead exemption on his Tallahassee house while he was living and working in Chicago. He also was listed as “delinquent” on paying his Florida Bar dues, according to its website. In a phone…

Attorney General Pam Bondi has lost a preliminary round in a lawsuit claiming she forces businesses to pony up millions of dollars to unregistered charities as part of settlements in consumer protection cases. Circuit Judge Charles Dodson of Tallahassee on Monday ordered Bondi to show why he shouldn’t find for the plaintiff, Orlando entrepreneur John D. Smith. In that order, docketed Tuesday, Dodson gave Bondi 40 days to respond. A list of the unregistered charities alleged in Smith’s suit was disclosed late Tuesday to FloridaPolitics.com,…

Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi announced an initiative against Florida’s “opioid crisis” Tuesday, calling upon the Legislature to help with tougher penalties and cracking down on sham “sober houses.” But Scott stopped short of declaring an opioid state of emergency. “We fought the pill mills, but now our challenge is bigger than ever,” Bondi said, flanked by representatives of sheriffs’, police, and fire departments, plus the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in the state Capitol. Scott said…